


i dreamed of you (it was real enough to get me through, i swear you were there)

by vivahate



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: & how Tobio gets his ass kicked at it by his Someone Better, Day At The Beach, Dorks in Love, Established Relationship, Fluff, Hinata got those proposal worms from Heitor and Nice and you cannot change my mind, Light Angst, M/M, Manga Spoilers, Married Couple, Post-Time Skip, like very light, mentions of beach volleyball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:14:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28794501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivahate/pseuds/vivahate
Summary: For the structures he’d built of what he wished for and what made him happy were firm and functional, but there were still parts of his being that were made to be shared, to be given. Those feelings and cravings that weren’t intended for his family and friends, career or self-maintenance -- there waiting on the outskirts of the edge of Hinata’s very dreams. A boy on a beach on the other side of the map. A promise from another country in his heart. A man making a resolution to bet his whole life on his play and a wedding on the beach Hinata will never forget.A volleyball that you put all your stakes on.(or; Hinata and Kageyama go on a vacation to Brazil, and a playful morning at the beach has Hinata reminiscing about the past and feeling almost unbearably giddy about the future.)
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 7
Kudos: 167





	i dreamed of you (it was real enough to get me through, i swear you were there)

Hinata can feel with relief the wideness of the sea stretching before him. He imagines the depths of it and all that life has to offer. 

The edges of the sea lapping at his ankles, the dancing waves wrapping themselves around him in a welcoming embrace and then retreating away from the shore. A greeting cycle that repeats, that _tests_ , and Hinata grins suddenly, fierce and a little wild and stands steady, feet planted firmly on the damp earth and doesn’t buckle under the thunderclap of waves like he did the first time he came here all those years ago. No longer a teenager ardent for a desperate glory and the smallest chance to prove, prove, _prove_. No longer a wave endlessly chasing a shoreline and cursing time for always working against him. He’s made the chase an ally for himself and tamed time to yield for him under his focused determination.

With clumps of damp sand clinging to his toes, reminding him of the battleground he made of it once, and freedom ruffling his hair, Shouyou keeps himself upright as he faces his new life head on. Morning has begun to unfold before him, sunbeams shining softly on mesmerising blue, donning the water with a novel allure and Shouyou, a boy of the summer, shines along with it.

“Hinata.” A familiar voice calls from behind, tugging Shouyou out of his reverie. He takes a moment, short and sweet to smile gently to himself, breathing in the voice so dear to him before he turns to see Kageyama’s tall figure standing not far away.

And very nearly trips face first into water.

Hinata stares in open, greedy wonder at the way early sunlight catches on Kageyama’s face, illuminating his inky black hair, delightfully ruffled from the wind. The sun twinkles off his deep blue eyes the same way it’s been playing off the ocean water and Hinata has to remind himself to breathe. For in that moment the features of Kageyama’s face appear much sharper, much more defined than usual, and impossibly more captivating.

 _Breathtaking_.

Here under the Brazilian sky, Kageyama is the most breathtaking thing Hinata’s ever seen.

“Figured you’d be here first thing in the morning.” Kageyama drawls, an eyebrow tipped up expectantly and Hinata smiles at him, sheepish, and still a little bit dazed. Typically, he would reply with something snarky in turn, but he isn’t in the mood to tease his setter quite yet.

“Heh, yeah.” Hinata says, turning to face the ocean once more. “I really missed the view. It’s so beautiful out here in the mornings.” 

“It is.” Kageyama replies with a hum and he does sound appreciative.

Hinata smiles to himself, suddenly giddy about his impromptu decision to track down here. He’s wanted to show the beauty of Copacabana to Kageyama pretty much since the first day he arrived here. He half-turns to share as much, but back-tracks at the far-away look on his boyfriend’s face, not quite troubled, but contemplative.

Hinata doesn’t know what he’s thinking, it could be that he’s just enraptured with the scenery, but something shifts uneasily inside of Hinata all the same. 

Kageyama has never lived by an ocean and grew up only knowing loneliness and abandonment. Hinata was reborn by the ocean and grew up knowing what it means to be cherished by a loving family.

Driven by his almost innate desire to ensure that Kageyama is well and happy at all times, he wads through the shallow waters, back towards the shore. 

Kageyama narrows his eyes at him. 

“What are you doing?” 

“C’mere.” Hinata says in lieu of an answer, and he’s already taken Kageyama’s hand and started pulling him towards the water before Kageyama has time to decide he doesn’t want to. “You’re missing out on all the fun.”

Hinata walks them through patches of seagrass and colourful stones, mindful of his grip on Tobio’s hand. With his other hand, Hinata tosses drops of seawater into the air, grinning as water rains back down upon them. Kageyama flinches at first and seems to want to shield his face with his arm, but changes his mind halfway, allowing his hand to dangle and brush against the water instead. Hinata’s smile widens, and he repeats the motion. His shorts are beginning to cling to his legs uncomfortably, hopelessly soaked, but he can’t bring himself to care. Not when he can finally enjoy this place with his partner - something he’s been yearning for ever since he first let himself believe he could have it. His heart is fluttering wildly with excitement, love and every emotion he’s pushed aside for _later_ , for _after_ he’s made a name for himself.

Hinata turns around to face Kageyama, now holding both of his hands, to find the setter already staring at him, entranced.

“Well? Do you like it?” he asks quietly but eagerly, and he means everything, the beach, the ocean, the country, the trip - their first one as spouses. 

“It’s alright.” Kageyama says, eyes not leaving Hinata, the corner of his lips finally perking up into a small smile. Hinata feels a small balloon of appreciation swell inside his chest. 

“Told ya.” Hinata says, grinning and gives Kageyama’s hand a squeeze. He dips his fingers into the water again and flicks some of it into Kageyama’s face. 

“Hey!” Tobio exclaims, going to scrub at his eyes and mercifully missing Hinata’s mischievous grin. Which doesn’t last too long anyway as Kageyama is quick to send a huge spray of water back into Hinata’s face in retaliation. 

“Is this the _fun_ I’ve been missing out on?” Kageyama asks, mimicking Hinata’s smug look from before, looking victorious and attractive and everything that gets Hinata worked up. 

“Oh, you’re so getting for this!” Hinata shouts, burying his hands in the water. 

Soon the playful splashing evolves into a full-blown water fight, the morning air of the empty beach erupting in boisterous yells and giggles. The balloon in Hinata’s chest grows larger and larger, filling with laughter and immense fondness for this man who has been through so much with him. With the taste of salt on the tip of his tongue and the uncomfortable heaviness of his clothes clinging to his body like additional wet skin, Hinata knows that this moment in time will be burned in his memory for many years to come. 

The excitement simmers down eventually, and they tredge back to the land to settle, both drenched and breathless from laughter, on the blanket Kageyama’s had the foresight to bring with him. Hinata’s heart pangs pleasantly when he sees that Kageyama’s brought some food and coffee for them to enjoy, as well, probably having planned for a light breakfast by the water. 

Hinata feels like the luckiest man alive. 

“So. How many wins is it for me?” Hinata asks, adorning a feral grin. He’s well aware of their tally, of course: he’s sure he’s a comfortable five points ahead of Kageyama now.

“Shut up.” Kageyama mumbles, busy pulling his drenched shirt over his head. “You still have an unfair advantage over me on the sand.” That Hinata does. For no sooner did they set foot on the beach yesterday than Kageyama was dragging him over to the nearest court, demanding they play a set. 

Kageyama was almost comically bad at it. Hinata could’ve easily swept up a bunch of points from yesterday’s mock-match alone if he were a less gracious person and if he weren’t equally determined to win Kageyama in a fair face-off on the beach one day. 

“Mmhm. Whatever you say.” Hinata says, not in the mood to boast over his victory too much. Tobio turns to him with a bristle of indignation, and Hinata catches him in the middle of it, bringing them together in a soft kiss. Kageyama melts against him almost immediately, and it’s still impressive to Hinata how he can go from prickly anger to gentle in two seconds flat. 

“Thank you for coming here.” Hinata murmurs into the gentle press of their lips, then skids them, feather soft over the bridge of Kageyama’s nose, then sun-flushed cheeks. “And for bringing food. It was very thoughtful of you.” 

Hinata feels Kageyama’s puffs of breath against his face and smiles. He’s never imagined he could fluster the setter quite this easily and the novelty of it is yet to wear off. 

Kageyama doesn’t say anything in response, instead he drags Hinata into a kiss so heady and _intentional_ , Hinata feels the heat of it down to the very tips of his toes. He hooks his fingers into Kageyama’s hair, over his ears and rubs at the skin behind them, the motion meant to anchor himself as much as it is to dot on the other. And oh is he thankful to have something to hold on to when Kageyama breaks away from the kiss to pin him down with a gaze just as simmering and Hinata thinks he might physically melt from it. 

_Ah_ , Hinata thinks, _I’m just as bad as him_. With no playful competitiveness or volleyball between them, it’s much more difficult to maintain his composure when Kageyama’s looking at him like this, open and _wanting_ and with a smug little upturn to his lips, cause he knows he’s desired right back. Kageyama can be such an insufferable minx sometimes. 

And there isn’t a single thing in the world Hinata wouldn’t do for him. 

“C’mon, let’s eat.” Hinata gruffs out, nudging Kageyama with a knee, as he shuffles back on the blanket a little. Kageyama’s still wearing that self-satisfied look on his face, and Hinata half expects him to gloat or tease him, but surprisingly he stays put and helps unpack the goods he’s brought. 

Boldened by this, Hinata chances to steal a few more pecks along with the scones in the bag and gets playfully swiped at for his efforts. Kageyama growls at him warningly the third time he takes a sip of the setter’s coffee and Hinata’s sides hurt from laughing when he gets a fair amount of jam on Kageyama’s lips and nose when feeding him some of his claimed baked treats. 

Hinata feels like he could burst with happiness. This morning couldn’t be any more perfect.

But there were many mornings before this one, days at the beach that were much sadder and plainer. When Hinata looked at Heitor and Nice and the life they were building together, Kageyama’s absence would leave him too full of _something_ that was begging to be let out. At the time Hinata could use the distraction of his training not to dwell on the odd sensation too much, but it would later wash over him in waves and all he could do was believe in the tides, the drawing in and drawing out of life, and that everything would fall into place eventually. 

(And fall into place it did.) 

Hinata would ground himself in meditation on the sun-warmed sand and let the foreign emotion flood in and out of him, unresisting. He would remind himself with a distinctly familiar strictness that any extra love he felt, could always be used to love himself, to take better care of his body, to have the patience to prepare a richer, fuller meal for the evening. But when Hinata didn’t know what to do with it, and when the distractions and the daily systems fell away, with nothing else to apply it on, he could only store some of it away. A fair amount of it, in fact. For the structures he’d built of what he wished for and what made him happy were firm and functional, but there were still parts of his being that were made to be shared, to be given. Those feelings and cravings that weren’t intended for his family and friends, career or self-maintenance -

\- there waiting on the outskirts of the edge of Hinata’s very dreams. A boy on a beach on the other side of the map. A promise from another country in his heart. A man making a resolution to bet his whole life on his play and a wedding on the beach Hinata will never forget. 

A volleyball that you put all your stakes on. 

“I’d decided I was going to propose to you, way before I got back to Japan, you know?” Hinata says without preamble, knowing there’s no need for those between the two of them. Sometime after they’d finished eating, they ended up sprawled on the picnic blanket with Kageyama’s head resting comfortably across Hinata’s thighs. Almost physically, he can feel the pair of beloved blue eyes peer up at him when he speaks, eating up every movement, every word of his. Nevertheless, Hinata keeps his gaze resolutely forward. “Seeing Nice and Heitor’s relationship grow and them creating a family together … I couldn’t stop thinking about how much I wanted the same with you. How much I wanted to be your family.” 

Hinata gathers enough courage to look down then and has difficulty swallowing around his feelings when met with a rare look of vulnerability in his partner’s eyes. Hinata smiles, meaning for it to be comforting, but he’s sure his lips are trembling too much for that. “It must’ve been too much and kind of sudden for you, but I’d been sitting with the idea of marriage for almost a year and when I saw you again… knowing you had the foreign league around the corner, too, I just had to ask you.”

That he did. For no sooner had the post-match excitement died down, than Hinata was dragging the setter away to a secluded hallway, completely foregoing any explanation and ignoring the scandalised looks from their teammates, to give them a moment of privacy. It might’ve been the adrenaline rush from his victory, or the heady feeling of finally getting to face his rival on equal ground, or both, but something had boldened his spirit and loosened his tongue, and there was only one thought, one question on his mind. 

Their friends haven’t let him hear the end of it, but he’s yet to regret his boldness. 

Kageyama reaches up to cup the side of his face, effectively bringing Hinata back to the present moment and making him subconsciously hold his breath. 

“You’re always too much.” Kageyama says, monotone and Hinata blinks, a little taken aback. He has to squint down at the setter, sincerely unable to tell if he’s meant to take it as a jab or an observation from the lazy way Kageyama’s eyeing him, but before he can dwell on it, Kageyama pinches his cheek. 

“But it wasn’t. Rushed that is.” Kageyama says in a voice that’s lower and much gentler, a confession shared and received. And then adds, bashful. “You didn’t have to wait until after the match, either.”

Hinata releases the breath he’s been holding and with it a myriad of emotions he didn’t realise, were weighing upon him. He understands exactly what Kageyama means and his words bring a sudden, uncontrollable sting to Hinata’s eyes. 

_Win or lose, whether it was five years ago, today, or even ten years from now…_

_Even if that takes ten years or twenty…whether it’s at the top of Japan, or the top of the world._

_You’re still you, and I think you’re amazing._

“I know that now.” Hinata chokes out, bringing a hand down to stroke through Kageyama’s hair. Something in his chest flutters helplessly at the way the setter seems to relax in his hold even more, as if he, too, needed to hear those words from Hinata as much as Hinata needed to say them. To come to believe them.

They lapse back into a comfortable silence, and the soothing sensation of Kageyama’s hair against his fingers, and his warm breath against his thigh are almost enough to lull Hinata to sleep, with how safe and content he’s feeling. Almost. If not for the sudden jab against his ribs and he decides then and there that the next serious talk he has with his husband, _must_ be about how Kageyama needs to stop doing this - 

“So does this mean that when you were training here,” Kageyama says slowly, eyes dark and searching, and Hinata feels simultaneously safe and caught under that gase, all complaints forgotten, “and refused to meet up with me when you could and thought my visiting would be a _bad idea_ , you were already planning on asking me to _marry_ you?” he exhales deeply and then adds, a little incredulous, “What the hell, Shouyou.”

“It wasn’t like that!” Hinata sputters, face burning and hand instinctively squeezing around Kageyama’s, “The marriage idea came much later - and I told you I wasn’t ready to see you yet! What was I supposed to do when I met you, a representative of Japan, when I still couldn’t complete my deliveries without getting lost, like, three times on the way?”

Kageyama huffs amusedly, his puffs of breath warm and ticklish against Hinata’s thigh, and _of course_ he’d find that funny, the cute jerk. But then his quiet laughter dies down and the hand slips from Hinata’s hold to gently grip the delicate length of his wrist instead, Kageyama’s fingers, long and beautiful and always feeling like home against Hinata’s skin.

“You could’ve gotten lost with me.”

And that’s about as much of this conversation Hinata can take without feeling like he’s going to float off into the air with how light and giddy he is. In a heartbeat, he’s slid from under Kageyama and is looming above, caging him in with his arms instead. Tobio’s blinking up at him, looking sufficiently dazzled and Hinata laughs, bright and unbidden and filled to the brim with love. He leans down, arms on either side of the setter’s head and knocks their foreheads together softly.

“I was also afraid,” Hinata confides, and this close he can feel Kageyama’s breath, warm and sweet on his cheeks. Kageyama’s eyes have gone dark and heavy again and Hinata smiles and whispers his next words right against Kageyama’s warm mouth. “That I wouldn’t be able to let you go if I saw you again.” 

Kageyama’s eyes dart up to his, refocusing: Hinata’s very own endless sea that he’ll willingly go under. 

“I wouldn’t have minded.” Kageyama whispers, softer than Hinata’s ever heard and he’s suddenly tempted to steal the sound and hide it from the rest of the world. “If you never let me go from now on, I wouldn’t mind it either.”

And, well, Hinata can’t be blamed when his arms go weak a little at that and he feels like his heart has lodged itself right in his throat. This adult version of Kageyama who’s not only sweet, but also _allows_ himself to say the sweetest things, is clearly going to be a constant health hazard for him.

And Hinata wouldn’t have it any other way. 

“Noted.” Hinata murmurs, finally closing the distance between them.

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> thoroughly convinced that the first time Kageyama tries beach volleyball, he's going to be just like Oikawa, shaking a fist at the sky and yelling at the wind. 
> 
> i'll go over this tomorrow and edit a little bit but this is the first thing i'm posting in a while and i really wanted to have it out tonight. 
> 
> also my old twitter account @tobioer got suspended cause i posted too much local politics at a sensitive time but i recently made a new account @shykageyama so you can come say hi to me there, if you'd like! thank you for reading!


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